STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING RECIPE NIGELLA RECIPES

For the sponge:

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/400°F/gas mark 6 and line a deep 23cm (9in) square tin with greaseproof paper. Place the de-stoned dates in a bowl of hot water and leave to soak for 20 minutes. Once soaked, drain them and then place them in a food processor or a blender and whizz up until soft and paste-like. Then, set aside.

In a bowl, whisk the milk with the apple cider vinegar until fully combined. Set aside for 10 minutes to curdle – this creates a vegan buttermilk. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, caster sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and ginger. Mix well to combine.

Add the oil to the buttermilk and whisk to combine. Add the buttermilk mixture and the treacle to the dry ingredients and mix. Fold in the dates.

Pour the batter into the lined tin. Make sure to tap the tin on the worktop to remove any air bubbles. Place the tin in the centre of the oven and bake for 28–30 minutes. You will know it’s done when it is springy to the touch and a knife or skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin on a cooling rack while you make the caramel sauce.

For the caramel sauce:

Get all your ingredients ready before you start. Place the caster sugar into a medium-sized pan over a low–medium heat, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon or whisk for 5–8 minutes until the sugar Make sure it doesn’t burn.

When the sugar has completely melted and is golden, turn off the heat. Leave for a few seconds, then carefully add the cream and immediately stir It will steam and bubble, but keep stirring.

When the caramel starts to cool down, stir in the milk. Place the pan back over a low–medium heat and bring it back to the boil. It will begin to bubble – keep stirring for another 1–2 minutes.

Turn off the heat and pour the sauce into a heatproof bowl. Once cool, place in the fridge to set. It will thicken as it cools.

Allow the sauce to cool slightly before serving, then drizzle over the sponge and enjoy.

Store any leftover sponge in a sealed container in the fridge. Best enjoyed within a few days. You can store the leftover caramel sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a few weeks.

Holly’s tip: This makes a great second-day pudding – eat cold or warm it up in the oven or microwave.

1. Heat the oven to 180ºC/160ºC Fan. Get out an ovenproof dish with a capacity of about 750ml; mine is 18cm in diameter and 5cm deep.

2. Peel the bananas (don’t throw the skins away, though, but use them to make the Banana Skin and Cauliflower Curry on p.35 of Cook, Eat, Repeat) and, either by hand or using an electric mixer, mash the bananas, then beat in the oil. I use an American ¼ cup (60ml) measure to do this, and then fill it up with tahini (conveniently, 60ml of tahini weighs 50g) and beat that in. Beat in the yogurt (you can also fill the ¼ cup measure with it to get 50g). Beat in the egg, then the sugars and vanilla.

3. Whisk or fork together the flour, cocoa, bicarb and salt and slowly beat into the batter and when you can no longer see any specks of white, fold in the chocolate chips with a bendy spatula, which you will need to scrape the runny batter into the ovenproof dish.

4. Cook for 40–45 minutes, depending on whether you want it to have a gooily molten centre or not. Once it’s out of the oven, let it stand for 5–10 minutes before diving in for that first squidgy spoonful.